HATTIESBURG – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will provide the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management at The University of Southern Mississippi with nearly $3.5 million to train an estimated 5,370 officials at 1,055 institutions nationwide on sport security management, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Trent Lott announced today. 

"This grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management to continue its cutting-edge research and programming," said Dr. Peter Fos, dean of the Southern Miss College of Health. "As the center develops the new discipline of spectator sport security, all Americans will be safer when they attend sporting events." 

The grant comes from the Department of Homeland Security's Competitive Training Grant Program. It is the second highest award of this year’s 12 recipients and is the highest award given to a university.  

"This new partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and The University of Southern Mississippi is welcome news at a time of year when students, families and children across Mississippi and throughout the nation gather to celebrate college sports," Cochran said in the prepared statement. 

The center will design, develop and deliver a national risk management training certification for sports events to key personnel responsible for security management of intercollegiate athletic events.  

"The purpose of the grant is mitigating the gaps," said the center's director Dr. Lou Marciani. "Previous research done by the center found gaps due the lack of team training of those responsible for game day operations." 

The training program will build multi-agency collaboration by delivering instruction to athletic facility administrators, campus police, Emergency Medical Services, fire/ HAZMAT and local jurisdiction emergency management directors.  

"Another value-added component of the proposed training is the lessons learned relative to multi-agency collaboration - leading to improved capabilities for risk management effectiveness," Marciani said. "This can be transferable to those responsible for a wide variety of jurisdictions and infrastructures, such as ports, chemical facilities, public schools and other critical infrastructures." 

The center's course components will include a pre-training online package, on-site training with risk analysis simulation models and a take-home transition package. About 95 three-day regional athletic conference workshops will be conducted. 

The Center for Spectator Sports Security Management at The University of Southern Mississippi was established in 2006. It was developed to provide an interdisciplinary environment to further increase sports security awareness; improve sport security policies and procedures; and enhance emergency response with evacuation, recovery operations and crowd management. See more information about the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management at http://www.sporteventsecurity.com. 

About The University of Southern MississippiThe University of Southern Mississippi, founded in 1910, is a comprehensive doctoral and research-extensive university fulfilling its mission of being a leading university in engaging and empowering individuals to transform lives and communities.  In a tradition of leadership for student development, Southern Miss is educating a 21^st century work force providing intellectual capital, cultural enrichment and innovation to Mississippi and the world.  Southern Miss is located in Hattiesburg, Miss., with an additional campus and teaching and research sites on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; further information is found at www.usm.edu.